Twitter Alert

I know I haven't posted anything in a while. Work and classes have taken over my life at the moment. I haven't been out much lately, but I'm hoping to post something/anything in the next week or so.

Yes, I joined Twitter. You can follow me here.

Reading: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, The Best American Travel Writing 2006 edited by Tim Cahill
Listening to: Edith Backlund's "Suburban Bliss", Philip LaRue's "Found", Rent soundtrack (2005)

The Days Pass By

The days pass as they always do. She will wake with the sound emanating from her alarm clock. It was one she had bought at a bargain store years before, at the urging of the pushy saleswoman. The clock still worked after all these years.

Occasionally she will wake before the alarm sounds. She will hear the birds outside her window and their incessant screeching will no longer allow her to stay in bed where she cannot escape the noise.

She eats because she must. Many things she does these days because she must. She enjoys little. She speaks when it is required. But this is becoming less and less of a requirement. People begin to avoid her - needing nothing from her, and so her days are spent mostly in silence. The world goes by without her. She feels this is acceptable.

The thoughts in her head, she believes, do not belong to her. For if she had her way she would be thinking nothing, nothing personal. It hurts too much. She is getting good at letting people believe she is simply a quiet soul, the art of smiling convincingly becoming her specialty.

She allows herself a moment every now and then to let herself believe things are different.

But it is, and only ever will be, a moment.


Reading: The Best American Travel Writing 2006 edited by Tim Cahill (various authors), Cecelia Ahern's Thanks For The Memories
Listening to: depressing songs

"Felt it in my fist, in my feet, in the hollows of my eyelids"

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap," were the first words to leave my mouth after seeing Florence + The Machine with my great friend Molly last Tuesday (August 10) at Challenge Stadium in Western Australia.

Their music is just so fierce and powerful that I could still feel it resounding throughout my entire body after the concert had finished. And Florence Welch has such a mighty voice I doubt she even needed the microphone. This is someone who knows the mechanics of their voice inside and out.

The opening act was POND, a local jam pop band who, Molly says, sound like The Flaming Lips. They were surprisingly cohesive and ... well, good considering the number of people in the band. And they even had their own dance, Jeremy, all decked out in a tie-dyed shirt and filmy purple material waving from his wrists.

Here's the setlist:

Drumming Song
My Boy Builds Coffins
Girl With One Eye
Cosmic Love
Howl
Blinding
Florence says "Hello" to audience
Between Two Lungs
I'm Not Calling You A Liar
Hurricane Drunk
You've Got The Love
Strangeness & Charm
Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)

Encore:
Heavy In Your Arms
Kiss With A Fist
band introductions
Dog Days Are Over

I did manage to get some photographs of the concert - we had epic seats in the reserved seating section, second row on the right - but the guy sitting next to me just couldn't stop feeling the music by tapping his legs continuously, so a lot of my photos make it look as though there was more than one Florence on stage.

The opening act POND. I cannot get over how much the guitarist on the right looks like Jack Hodgins from Bones.

Isabelle at the keyboard, not Florence.

Not in focus, but too wicked-looking to not upload.
Reading: Dead Air by Iain Banks
Listening to: "The Dance" by Charlotte Martin, Florence and The Machine's Lungs

Under Postmodernism's Spell

Classes started back up last week, so I'm back to finding a balance between university/readings, work, and leisure. And it is my last semester of university, so I have to find that perfect balance between studying and not going insane. I'm overloading this semester because the one creative writing unit (I think American universities call these courses?) I wanted to take is worth more credits than I need to finish my degree. So that calls for a little more work this semester. Oh, and I'm back to studying postmodernism. Lord help me, one semester of this is bad enough but three years? Oh dear.

I've been slightly more interested in food lately, in cooking rather, and attempting to take food photography (albeit low-level photography). At work I generally just have a sandwich or buy a spinach and ricotta pastry roll for lunch, but last Wednesday I decided to splash out and get sushi for the first time in months. An interesting lunch and a quiet day at work led to my camera being used.

Lunch: Iced coffee and assorted roll sushi.
I fancied Mexican food on Saturday for lunch but I didn't want my usual nachos. For some reason I felt like a tortilla, and cooking one. So I went out and bought polenta and cooked my very first tortillas. They were quite yummy as chicken burritos, if I do say so myself.
It's about 3.15am now and I couldn't sleep (despite having woken up at a normal time - 9am - yesterday) so I decided to get some studying done. I find I work better at the edge of night, between 2am and 5am, which doesn't let me fare well during the day but it does allow me to get work done without any disturbances from everyday life. There's just something peaceful and light about doing anything during this time.


Reading: Dead Air by Iain Banks (almost finished it)
Listening to: 2008 Rent soundtrack (particularly "Goodbye Love"), "The Freshmen" by The Verve Pipe, Jack's Mannequin's "The Resolution"

A Wicked project

Well, it was my sister's birthday last Sunday and I wanted to do something extra special for her since we don't really do the whole 'cake-and-a-party' thing like normal people. Since our reawakening of musical interests, I wanted to do something Wicked-related. I did get her The Grimmerie: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Hit Broadway Musical from playbillstore.com, which I found out later she had been eyeing for quite some time. Plus, I kinda wanted it too, so win/win.Anyway, about a month ago while browsing the aforementioned online store, I happened upon the Wicked original Broadway poster, and the cogs started turning. Instead of just buying the poster, why don't I paint it for my sister? Thus began the planning for my first major painting project.

I had to sketch it out on the canvas first, erasing most of the pencil until it was just visible so it wouldn't show up on the final piece.

And after 4 late nights and half a day of painting, this was the final product.There's another poster which has G(a)linda - the white witch - with the flesh colour of her skin painted on as well, but I didn't have that colour and I like the stark contrast between the black/green and the white. The original Broadway poster has Elphaba with a more rounded face, but I wanted a more elongated look like (former Elphaba) Eden Espinosa's face (who I believe has one of the most perfect Elphaba 'looks' once she's 'greenified,' that is). I was looking for an image I had seen before to show this, but then I realised it was a still from a YouTube video. Skip ahead to 2:42 to see the still I'm talking about.



Reading: Dead Air by Iain Banks
Listening to: 2006 Spring Awakening original cast recording, (and something totally different) "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry

We're perfect together

Yes, I think I must finally admit it. Here. I ... am a shoe whore. I've bought 3 pairs of shoes in the past 2 and a half months. It's as though I'm making up for lost time after having been a tomboy growing up. The whole interested-in-clothes thing is very recent, so I'm still in that new phase where I'm in awe of everything I see, in terms of fashion, and experimenting with my own clothes. I used to live in jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers, so anything is a step up, really.

This was a pair I ordered from Forever21.com (a site which I online window shop at all the time). They're 5 inches which, I've found is the highest heels I can walk in. I wore them (for the first time!) to Rock the Ballet, which I saw with my mom and sister a few weeks ago.
These are the second pair, bought from Cotton On in Australia. It's the Arizona boot in Chalk, if you're interested. They remind me of witch's boots, and seeing as how I'm still loving Wicked, they're perfect.The third pair was suede black flats, nothing really special.

Needless to say, I have not bought anything in a few weeks because a) if I keep spending my money, I will have none left; b) I only buy something if I've been eyeing it for at least 2 weeks (and haven't seen anything I've really liked in a while), and; c) I have been too busy with work and other mind-occupying things to look at anything.

Reading: Dead Air by Iain Banks
Listening to: 2003 Wicked original cast recording, Jack's Mannequin's Everything In Transit

Wicked Love

My latest obsession: musical theatre. It's not something exactly new to me, to be honest, having seen Fame as a kid. But it is as though a volcano erupted. I guess my interest in musical theatre was always there, waiting for the day when it could come tumbling out, unexpected. Now it seem as though my days are full of musicals. My favourites so far have to be Wicked, and Rent, but I so desperately want to see Spring Awakening and Les Misérables. I've only seen the Rent film, and since the show's now closed I doubt I'll get the chance to see it live.

Of all the women who have played Elphaba (of Wicked), my favourites would have to be Idina Menzel, Carmen Cusack, and Eden Espinosa (in no particular order). So I thought I would share some of my favourite Wicked-related performances of theirs.

Idina had mono or some other kind of illness while performing this ("Defying Gravity") at the 2004 Tony Awards, but she was still amazing considering she had about 2 seconds to get into character.

I love Carmen's expressions throughout this song ("No Good Deed"); she just shows the desperation, anxiety, and eventual Wicked-ness needed for this song. Not to mention the fact that she has a fantastic voice.



And finally, Eden Espinosa's version of "No Good Deed." Best "Fiyero!" belt at 2:08 I've ever heard. Girl's got some pipes.



Before this becomes just a post of YouTube videos, I shall end it here by saying I had no idea how many lines of dialogue from Wicked could be used in everyday life. My sister and I have been having fun using them, sharing secret smiles around our mom who has no idea what we're talking about.


Reading: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Listening to: 2003 Wicked original cast recording, 2005 Rent soundtrack, 2006 Spring Awakening original cast recording

Goodbyes

On Wednesday 9 June, I spent the day out with one of my best friends Molly. She would be leaving for her month-long European adventure on the Sunday, so I wanted to hang out before she left. We had to go to our university first because Molly had an interview for an Arts program there (which she did awesome in, so we're now at the same university together again), and I had to hand in an assignment, but then it was off to the city for lunch and to visit the Art Gallery.

We had lunch at Pancakes & Grill and were very naughty - we had pancakes for lunch.

Molly had the Brandied Apricots.
I had the Blueberry Heaven.
There was a new exhibition at the Art Gallery that we wanted to see, the Patricia Piccinini Relativity exhibit. It was just amazing, and so realistic, and ... frightening in a way. My favourite sculpture was The Stags 2008. The only thing that dragged the day down was me, literally. I still couldn't walk properly after injuring my foot, so I was limping around everywhere and Molly had to walk slower because of it.

The weather took a cold turn that day with Winter finally setting on (notice the matching blog template change). And the perfect way to stay warm on a cold day is ... coffee. Or a cold drink, as Miss Molly decided. She's nutty.

Here's Molly checking out my Wise Blood book.
By that time it was already past 5 o'clock, so Molly drove me the short distance to where my mom works in a business district and I got a ride home with my mom. I love being out at night.

This is the view from mom's 14th floor office.

When I got home I got a nice surprise: Jill over at the now finished blog, Today I Saw, had sent me another postcard. I feel so lucky to have gotten two from her considering she only sent out one postcard a day for a year.

Pretty good day.


Reading: Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler (want to read more non-fiction these holidays)
Listening to: "All The Right Moves" by One Republic, "Monster" and "Dance in the Dark" by Lady Gaga, "Don't Fear The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult" ("More cowbell!") and "Don't Fear The Reaper" (cover) by The Mutton Birds (from one of my favourite movies The Frighteners), and "Automatic" by Tokio Hotel (seriously fascinated by these guys)

I wish that I was Jessie's Girl

What an eventful week. It's the last week of semester and I have been running on adrenalin and coffee. I'm going to be feeling this later, I just know it. I will probably be found sprawled out on the floor somewhere in my house, away with the clouds....

The week started off with an Irish coffee. Things were going good. I was doing an assignment, writing about a university reading. I was in the mood to do the assignment. There was some great music playing on my computer. I stopped for a moment to stretch my arms. And managed to pull a muscle in my right arm. I'm right-handed, so my left hand can't type well without its beloved other half. See, assignments can hurt you physically.

My job requires me to have two working hands. I'm a clothing alterations assistant and need to prep the clothes to be altered. Unpicking threads is my main task. Boy, is that difficult when you have limited mobility.

------------------------------

I ended up going to sleep at 5am on Wednesday. The hours around midnight are when I'm at my most motivated, unfortunately. And assignments needed finishing and editing. So, I was awake late.

Somehow I woke up at 8am that day to research another assignment, on postmodernism. I also decided to make cookies for my class that morning. Cookies from a boxed baking mix though. Class did start at 10am after all.

Not only did I bake cookies for my morning class, but I came back home during my break to make brownies (from a baking mix) for my afternoon class. I stayed awake for that afternoon class because of drinking about four cups of coffee throughout the day. (And I was supposed to be cutting back on my coffee intake.) Call me crazy, insane, nuts, to say the least.

I think wearing my red high tops all day yesterday caused me to walk abnormally: I may have pulled something in my left foot. Man, do I injure myself in the strangest ways or what? And it's the second time I hurt myself the day before work. I do like my job, honestly. I would have looked a right site hobbling around my workplace today (no, wait, that would be yesterday because now it's 4.31am) but I was in too much of a good mood to care.

One more class later this afternoon, and the semester will be over. And two essays after that, I will be on holiday for two months or so. I will probably spend most of that time working and sleeping. Sleep, what's that again?

This was written on my bus stop's schedule. I know it's graffiti, but it's also sweet.

All that remained of the cookies and brownies.

The sky around 5pm. Now that it's Winter, the sky is pitch black by 5.30pm. I adore Winter.
A face to go along with the words. I'm part-Indian, part-English (and part-Irish, according to my sister, but that hasn't been confirmed). Yes, my room is slightly untidy. In my defence, this was before I cleaned it up.
(About this post's title: When I was a kid, I used to think that was the lyric in "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield. Well, it made sense in my five year-old mind. I really wouldn't mind being Jessie's girl now - he sounds like a nice lad.)


Reading: Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
Listening to: "Baker Baker" by my favourite redhead Tori Amos (seems appropriate), "Love" (live version) by Sugarland, "Secret Garden" by Bruce Springsteen

Southern Gothi-what?

It feels as though I'm in a lair at the moment. I sit upon my bed surrounded by various university readings, assignment drafts, and notes, a small dome of light illuminating my working area.

My brain is full of postmodern theory and theorists, elements of storytelling in non-fiction, editing principles, key arguments ... and then I put on my The Holiday soundtrack. And the light gets bigger, my room begins to feel warmer (it's Winter here), I'm multi-tasking with three assignments, and my toes start moving to the jazzy sounds of Hans Zimmer's musical creations ....

Been trawling through Southern Gothic Productions' various blog and vlog archives over the past few months. Huge fan of the SoGoPro book club. Then realised didn't know what made southern gothic fiction, well, southern gothic. Then felt silly after researching it and noticing I'd seen/read a fair amount of southern gothic films/novels:

• A Streetcar Named Desire (1984 film version)
• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (the novel)
• Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994 film version)
• The Green Mile (1999 film version)
• Big Fish (2003 film version, Note: love Tim Burton)
• The Little Friend by Donna Tartt (which led to reading The Secret History - a book of epic awesomeness)
• Cool Hand Luke (1967 film version, "What we have here is a failure to communicate." Ha, sounds like my assignments and me.)

... to name but a few. I do need to credit Nick Gray for the current book I'm reading. (I would've read it eventually - knowing me it would've been years and years - as I'm currently reading through this list but now, thanks to Mr. Gray, I'm reading it sooner.) Come to think of it, I need to thank the whole SGP gang for my sudden foray into the realm of the southern gothic because I. AM. LOVING. IT.

The only way I am awake now, at 2am, is because of four serves of coffee all in one mug. Oh, assignments, how I wish you would write yourselves.

Kiara.

Reading: Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
Listening to: The Holiday soundtrack

If I read any more Baudrillard, I fear I may go insane

Taking a break from studying....

I realised last week that I'm surrounded by people based in the arts or those who are creative beyond a doubt. Which is unintentional, I might add, the part about being surrounded by all this creativity. My interest in the arts has to have come from my mom's side because there is a long line of artists down the generations: one of my great-aunts was an Indian dancer/singer, my grandmother used to sketch and draw, an uncle of mine was a cartoonist when he was younger, another couple of uncles are musicians (one of them only part-time), and my lawyer mom moonlights as a painter on the weekends.

While mom's interest in the arts is visual and mine is written, I'd like to think I get my arts-based mind from her.

And the list continues: my sister plays piano, two of my friends design/make clothes (I mention one of them, Molly, a lot), another three or so sing and/or dance, and one is a musician. Update: I forgot to add that my musician friend is also a theatre actor, which is good for me because it's easily accessible and I know the plays will be good as he chooses interesting roles. And my only female cousin wants to be (and is going to be, after reading her work) a writer as well - it's funny that out of the five of us grandchildren, all three girls want to be based in the arts. So, my friends and family round out the arts nicely.

Not such a bad crowd to be around, huh?

My mom hasn't painted in about 20 years, so I got her an easel and acrylic paints for Mother's Day. She painted this on Mother's Day, and it was her first time using acrylics:


Reading: Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
Listening to: "Cloudbusting" by Kate Bush, Jack's Mannequin's "Dark Blue", "Give Me Heart" by Susie Suh, "Welcome to England" by Tori Amos, "Buy Now Pay Later" by The Whitlams, "Gypsy" by Fleetwood Mac, "Fine Line" by Little Big Town, "Stand Back" by Stevie Nicks, "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel

Meanwhile during my stagnant Wednesday morning class

Finally, something more closely related to writing: I broke my no writing spell. I wrote about 3/4 of a handwritten page on Monday night continuing on from a story I started two months ago. That may have been the last thing I wrote before this huge break.

I only have 4 more weeks of classes and due assignments before the winter break. And then there will be 12 more weeks of university before I graduate later this year. Argh! My university degree (a Bachelor of Arts, or as people in other discourses like to call it - the 'Get a real job' degree) is three years long, and boy, have those three years gone by at lightning speed. Or it will have.

Blogging may be the last thing on my mind over the next 4 weeks because I don't do exams and my tutors compensate by piling up each class with assignments. Since I've been good at keeping up with work this semester (and starting assignments early) I'm hoping it will leave me with time to blog regularly.

I watched a cartoon version of the double slit experiment (in quantum physics) in class today. The Big Bang Theory boys would love that, although I'm thinking Sheldon would find many inconsistencies in the experiment. I, however, did find it interesting, although I was completely lost when it came to the last half.

Reading: Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, Alexandra Potter's Who's That Girl?
Listening to: Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac, "Planets of the Universe" by Stevie Nicks (there is a short guitar solo towards the end of this song that I just can't stop listening to), "Come" by Fleetwood Mac

Quirky things

In case you missed the allusion in the last 'What I'm Reading' section, I have finally finished Bret Easton Ellis' Glamorama! I actually finished it last week, reading the last 40 pages or so in one day. It wasn't that it was a bad book - it was, surprisingly, an engaging and interesting book, but it was the graphic sexual scenes and violent fights that let me put the book down at times. I'm not averse to reading material of that nature (if it contributes to the story) but Ellis describes bloody and brutal bombings and amputations in such detail that I almost started to feel pain in each part of the body that was being blown off in the story. If you're interested in technique, and structure in particular, I suggest you read this book. Ellis uses stream of consciousness very effectively and seamlessly.

On another note, I love finding quirky things anywhere, so here's some of my most recent purchases.

I had to buy these black shoe socks when I saw them, and then bought the same pair in red. The striped socks just seem really witchy.

I've heard that these masks can sell for up to $300 (in the Australian dollar) so to find this mask in a crystal and knick-knack shop for $20 was incredible. I was immediately fascinated by the black one in the store because the last time I had seen Venetian masks was in the 2006 film Marie Antoinette and all these thoughts about where this mask would have been and who would have used it if it was made during that time started to flood my mind.

That day I also bought the 2 candle lights behind the mask. They're battery-operated and are made to look like old 17th-century candles in gold holders. I bought them in a $2 shop.

And these are my first Argyle socks. You can tell I have a thing for socks. Now I want to find an Argyle vest in these same shades.

Now I have to finish off a reading for tomorrow's class, watch the last 5 minutes of a Big Bang Theory season 1 episode, and get some sleep before this all starts again.

Reading: Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, and Alexandra Potter's Who's That Girl?
Listening to: Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac, "Illume" by Stevie Nicks, "Silver Girl" by Fleetwood Mac, and "Everybody Finds Out" by Fleetwood Mac

Breaking the chain

I honestly haven't written anything in about 2 months. Any stories, that is. (I have some from class but I don't think they count because they were written for assessment). Things have been really hectic for a while; between classes, work, assignments and general tidying up of my room and house I have little time for sleep, let alone writing.

This is the first time I've had a writing break this long. Yet, the longer I don't write the easier it is to continue in that frame of mind. I'm going to break out of it though. Tonight. Even if it's just half a page, I'll write something. I'll post some story fragments up here soon.

Grown from my mom's garden. Pretty much the size (actual size) of my inspiration at the moment.

Reading: Thomas Mann's Death in Venice (for class), Alexandra Potter's Who's That Girl? (because I love me some real English - as in the country - fiction)
Listening to: Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac, "Illume" by Stevie Nicks, "Silver Girl" by Fleetwood Mac

"Might paint something I might want to hang here someday."

I went into the city (with my older sister) on Friday, to have lunch with our mom. I have a red and green tartan dress that my mom found for me at Myer (Australian department store) which I've only worn once before. I was never really someone who enjoyed dressing up or even wearing dresses for that matter. I was kind of a tomboy when I was a kid, and it's only very recently that I've started taking an interest in clothes. I'm still warming up to clothes shopping though.

This is how I was going to wear the dress. It's sleeveless, but I didn't like the cut of it, so I wear it with t-shirts. This isn't how it was originally. My aforementioned friend Molly altered it for me, so it's more fitted, shorter to wear it as a sleeveless coat, and with a curved hem at the back and front.

Dress from Myer, Fleetwood Mac 2009 concert tour shirt, red tights, Iggy Youths shoes.

However, the temperature dropped down to 24 degrees C/75 degrees F on Friday morning, so I ended up wearing the dress with a longer-sleeved t-shirt and my boots.

Yes, there is a hole in the red tights. By pure bad luck, the first time I wore the tights the Velcro on my skull bag latched on to them and caused them to ladder. Luckily, this happened when I got home, so I managed to buy another pair of red tights yesterday without wearing the ripped tights out.

Dress from Myer, black Mickey Mouse t-shirt (hidden under dress), red tights, boots from Forever New, drum kit necklace (given to me by my sister).

On the way up to lunch, we saw a man playing the bagpipes, but he wasn't wearing a kilt. I haven't heard live bagpipes in the city for a while, so I dropped some loose change into his open case. Then, while we waited for a car to back out of the carpark the man was playing in front of, he stopped to tell me thanks and said, smiling, "You're wearing tartan, too." I knew there was a reason I wore this dress today. I did get a lot of stares for wearing red tights though. The city is business central and everyone wears monotones with maybe dark coloured clothes, such as dark purple.

Now I have to get back to my university readings. At the moment I'm taking notes from my creative writing set text. Yes, we have a set text for creative writing.

I'll be back to post soon,

KiaraWrites.

Reading: Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis (80 pages left)
I'm listening to: Tegan and Sara's Sainthood

"A tourist in the waking world, never quite awake."

(I had dinner really late today. It's currently around 1 am as I write this, and I ate dinner at 10.30 pm. We had lunch at 4 pm because my mother and I did grocery shopping during lunchtime. I'm staying up so my food digests properly. Okay, weird fact over now.)

I work in a clothing alterations store and my new "Most Intriguing" customer came in today to pick up his two pairs of trousers. The first time I saw him was last week when he dropped off his clothes and I was immediately fascinated by him. See, he has long black hair tied in a low ponytail and a black handlebar moustache twisted at the ends so it curves ever so slightly.

I knew he wasn't one of our typical male customers - businessmen needing suits altered. One of the trousers was blue and black, the other red and black. The coloured parts were made of a satin-type material. If my friend Molly was with me she could tell you the exact kind of material (she's fantastic at sewing/making clothes so she would know). This particular customer seemed vaguely familiar, so I wondered what he did for a living because maybe I'd seem him doing that.

When he came back for pick-up, we got talking and he told me about the Guiness World Record he's going to attempt to break: sword-swallowing! There is currently a GWR for someone swallowing around 94 swords. Yes, you read that right, 94. He said he will probably only be able to swallow 25. I would not even attempt to swallow one sword. That's when I realised I'd seen him before all right. He performs and busks in the city (I live in what would be referred to as the suburbs) as a sword-swallower and basically a street magician/illusionist.

His last comment before he left? "If you don't see me here again, it's because I died trying this." I hope he doesn't; I've seen his street work and it's amazing to watch. His comment also applies literally to death as well - if I died, I'd want to go out trying too. And doing something I enjoyed, if it were possible.

And with that, I bid you goodnight,

KiaraWrites.

Reading: and still Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis (the book has approximately 550 pages, and I only have 100 pages or so left)
What I'm listening to: Florence and the Machine's Lungs, "The Con" by Tegan and Sara, "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap

"Death row coloured world."

I realise that now is the time I should be telling you (whoever 'you' is/are) some things about myself. Aside from the standard facts - female, nineteen, living in Australia - there are plenty of unknowns. I'll start a list and we shall see how far I get:

1. I tend to get story ideas and fragments when I'm about to sleep or when I'm asleep and dreaming, so I use my bedside cupboard to write on, in pencil. It's cream-coloured so the marks can be seen. One side is almost covered in pencil scrawls because that was the side closest to me for years. The other side has only one thing, something I 'heard' while I was dreaming.

2. Night time is when I get my (best) work completed. Especially around midnight. During the day I'm either at university or at work, so that only leaves the night for my interests. And since I procrastinate greatly before I get any work done (whether it's a story or assignment) I get all the 'fun' things out of the way first (checking my emails, keeping up with the blogs I follow, reading, writing, etc).

3. I find Greek mythology fascinating. My older sister has an entire coffee table book on mythologies from around the world, but I love the Greek myths most. I find that I do the same thing myself; the Greeks created these stories to explain changes in their world, and I write stories to explain things I see or that happen in my world.

4. I'm happy to discover who I am throughout my lifetime because I know who I am by the things I'm not. And sometimes, that's all you need to know.

And with that, I bid you goodnight,

KiaraWrites.

Reading: still Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis
What I've been listening to: "Sincerely Hope It's You" by Edith Backlund, "Huddle Formation" by The Go! Team, "Wedding Dress" by Matt Nathanson, "Colorblind" by Counting Crows, "Come Around" by Rosi Golan, "Eet" by Regina Spektor.

“And maybe we're looking for the same thing.”

In the event that there really is life out there reading this blog, I'm going to start posting more often. That is, more than once every ten days or so.
If it wasn't made clear before, this blog is about my creative writing, what inspires it (usually music), and anything that might go with writing in general. Since not everyone can take creative writing classes, I'm going to be including information I receive in my classes, and any other bites I pick up in my own practice.

I've found that style in writing is similar to style in terms of fashion: what works for someone else is not always going to work for you. Not everyone can pull off wearing pink and red together, just as not everyone can imitate Ernest Hemingway accurately. Try out different things to see what is comfortable for you. Attempt to write in the styles of your favourite authors. You'll either realise that:
a) the reason you like them so much is because you could never write in that same intense, magnetising way in which they write (which isn't a bad thing, mind you); or
b) you can emulate their style so well that it leads to the conclusion that that particular style is easy and can be used by anyone, in which case you might start developing your own unique style.
In any event, try different things. The only way to know what works for you fashion-wise is to try on different clothes. The same goes for style in writing.

I'm currently on holidays from university at the moment, and these 2-week breaks are a killer. I get out of university mode and into “let's have fun” mode, so I barely get any work done. Lately, I've been slacking off when it comes to reading and writing. The only reason I partly finished a story was because it was due for assignment. I say partly finished because we only had to hand in the first 1000-1500 words of a work-in-progress. Also, I tend to read 3 or 4 books in a month, but I've dropped down to finishing maybe one book a month if I'm lucky. One of the most common reasons for why people study creative writing – at least in my classes – is because they enjoy reading. If you read, you'll start picking up on certain accents that an author may use in a book. That's not accents as in 'dialect' but accents as in techniques an author favours. And if you don't read, you don't know what genres you like to read or what themes you relate to. Read, and you shall learn all of this.

Speaking of reading, I have a lot of them to catch up on for university. I go back next week. Something tells me this is not going to be a very prolific week.

And with that, I bid you goodbye,

KiaraWrites.

Reading: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (for one of my university classes)
Listening to: Bloc Party's “Halo”